Friday, August 17, 2012

F-You, Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan, Republican member and poster boy for the Tea Party elements in the House of Representatives, got in front of an audience and claimed that Obama is the most "divisive and partisan" President of his 14 years in Congress. I guess he forgot some of the following:

The impeachment of Bill Clinton for lying about a blowjob.
Bush v Gore.
Karl Rove's strategy during the 2002 midterms of tying Democrats to terrorism.
Lying America into a war with Iraq.
The smear campaign against John Kerry, questioning the Purple Hearts he earned in Vietnam.
Ignoring the drowning of an American city.
Sarah Palin saying that Obama "pals around with terrorists."
Birthers.

But mostly, he forgets (or ignores, more accurately) the meeting that Mitch McConnell had where he basically said, "Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct." And then proceeded to abuse the filibuster process beyond recognition.

He must also have forgotten the conduct of Joe Wilson (R-Insane Asylum/South Carolina). He must have forgotten Obama's misguided efforts last summer to offer the GOP a "Grand Bargain" that blew up in Boehner's face, largely because of - you guessed it, clever reader - Paul Ryan.

When Ryan blew up last summer's "Grand Bargain" he likely did the Republic the greatest service of his career, by the way.

But Obama is only "divisive and partisan" because the GOP has simply abandoned any pretense of working with him. They simply cannot accept the legitimacy of a Democratic President. But whereas Dan Burton was kind a fringe figure in the Clinton years (albeit an important one), Burton would be considered too moderate in today's GOP. This is the party that routed Dick Lugar for working with the President on nuclear disarmament. You know who else liked nuclear disarmament? Ronald Reagan.

But screw all that.

Mitt Romney has found his perfect running mate: a telegenic hack with an obvious contempt for the truth.

This shit, combined with Ryan's blatant lying about his request for stimulus funds, shows that the GOP is really and truly trying to win with a "post-truth" strategy. This is no longer a facet of Mitt Romney's personal hollow core - that echo chamber of absent beliefs - it is a party-wide phenomenon.